No wonder Ranchi, the once altitude-happy oasis of heat-cursed Jharkhand, felt roasted on Friday.

The sizzling city almost kissed 40°C, its highest reading this summer, on a day the mercury took the predicted 45°C leap in some places, including steel city Bokaro.

Weathermen warned that the heat wave, which has been sweeping through the state for a week now, would continue for the next 48 hours, thanks to the dominating westerly winds that block moisture incursion into the atmosphere and trigger the Celsius surge.

“The dry westerly winds are pushing up maximum temperatures and will continue doing so for the next two days. Heat wave conditions will prevail,” said A.K. Sen, the director of Patna Meteorological Centre.

He, however, sighted a ray of respite. “A turnaround in the weather is expected from Sunday evening when the wind pattern changes to easterly. There may be rain and thundershowers at a few places in Jharkhand on Monday,” he added after analysing Friday’s chart and radar pictures.

Until next week, residents will have to fight the harsh sun. The real feel weather, which uses multiple factors like temperature, humidity, cloud cover, sun intensity and wind to explain how hot it may feel outside, shows 100-plus readings for Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Bokaro and Dhanbad.

On Friday, the Celsius touched 45°C in Bokaro, a two-degree jump in 24 hours. The steel town’s season highest was also four notches above normal. On Thursday, Bokaro was a tad less hot at 43.6°C. Last year, it had recorded a maximum of 45°C on May 19.

The oppression was less in Jamshedpur with the Celsius reading 43.2 degrees, three notches above normal. On May 19 last year, the steel city had crossed 45°C.

The mercury sprinted to 44°C, three above normal, in Dhanbad. Daltonganj, Latehar, Garhwa and Chatra also reeled under around 44°C.

Capital Ranchi’s maximum of 39.9°C was the third highest on this day in five years (see chart). The reading was two notches above normal and a tad higher than Thursday’s 39.4°C.

Statistics show that Jharkhand grappled with an equally hostile mercury last year, but frequent bouts of rain triggered by Nor’westers brought relief.

By May 22, 2013, as many as nine storms had originated from the Chotanagpur Plateau region.

The count this year is four. Ranchi and Jamshedpur were among places that experienced Nor’wester rain in the first week of May after which the dry spell started.